Sailing Notes 

Leg 1: Ft.Myers to St. Augustine
April 15 23:00 Taylors arrive from Dallas.
April 16 2:00 The first of four takes to her bed (Gail)
4:00 Two more hit the bunks (Matt and Pam). Of course Matt had been mostly vegged out in the Rice's living room.
6:30 Everyone is up and working to get ready. No sleep for Captain Butch and little for Popeye, who felt the excitement in the air.
7:00 The decision is made to cut across Florida and Okeechobe Lake. Wind direction told us sailing around the Keys would be iffy and rough, while sailing across would be certain and pleasant!
8:00 Ready for last engine check just before leaving. Hummmmm, now where are the keys? At first, gentle humor, then panicked looking and re-looking... in Camelot, aboard Avalon, in the house, in the car, in the yard. no sign of keys.
8:30 Butch replaces the starter with a new key. (15 minutes)
8:45 Engine on and being checked; Camelot made fast.
9:00 Left dock. 
Motored the day; went through two locks and tied to bollards in Clewiston for the night. (really slick work). Captain Mel Longo on a delivery passed us here. (Mel and Diane Longo are good friends from St. Augustine.)...A 60 mile day. (Sometime several hours after leaving, Pam discovered where the keys had been hiding... Almost in plain sight, just under the Captain's papers.
April 17 6:30 Everybody up.
7:15 Untied from the bollards and headed for Lake Okeechobe just a few miles east. Wind to the SE.
7:20 Matt teasing Popeye and Popeye looks at Matt and says, "What are you doing, Matt?"
8:30 Flew across Lake Okeechobe with three sails flying, no engine. 25 miles in just three hours.
12:00 Mayaca Port and lock (terrible current); then Matt spun the boat holding it into the current while Captain Butch lowered the top mast so that we could get under a 47 foot bridge. (With top mast, we are 53.5 tall; and lowered top mast we are 42)... Then one more lock at Port St. Lucie. Just after this lock we raised the top mast and made a straight stretch of motoring until late in the day when we neared Stuart.  Hit bottom in the channel several times during this stretch.
20:30 Put up the club foot jib and sailed at about 4.5 knots until 2300. We were traveling through a very straight, narrow, shallow channel looking for the perfect anchorage and found it in Ft. Pierce. All of us shared time at the wheel. The Rice's constantly getting Camelot ship-shape; the Taylor's in phone conferences, working on project deliverables, taking care with the business.
23:00 Dropped anchor... An 88 mile day.
April 18 6:30 Everyone up.(winds to the SE)
7:15 Left anchorage and immediately put up main sail, followed by working jib and sailed to Melbourne at speeds ranging from 5 to 8 knots.
14:00 A call from Captain Bill and Becky about meeting them in Melbourne. Taylor deliverables getting shipped via e-mail as the cell phone allowed at 1200 and 4800 baud rates!! 
17:50 Dropped anchor at the Dragon in Melbourne. Well yes, we hit bottom on entry into the anchorage. There was a piece of local knowledge we did not have -- Stay at least 50 feet from the channel marker. :-( Good team work made this a minor offense) This incident is discussed in Gail's story Red Right Returning.
19:30 Bill and Becky arrive for dinner and conversation.
20:10 Remembered we had TV on board and watched weather. Decided the best sail was to remain inside
April 19 Another great day, winds out of the south, coffee cups in hands. Racing forward at peeds of up to 9 knots! It's another great day! Perhaps another 80 mile day UNDER SAIL! Anchorage for the night unknown ... as far as we can reach with the wind! Wind great; skys cloudy; Rice's relaxing a bit; Taylors working on deliverables... and relaxing. It's Sunday!
Current location: Abeam of Cape Canaveral's assembling launch. The last time we were here in 1993, the shuttle lifted. We had been at sea for days and did not know one was due to launch. We could not have planned it better... in fact, we would have missed as the launch was five hours and five minutes late because of strong winds (which we were loving, of course). Here are a few pictures from the first leg of the journey.

Leg 2: St. Augustine to Charleston, SC
April 24 A gorgeous day! Winds were light out of the north.  Felt good to be out on the ocean. The winds were too light to sail, gave the Perkins a good work out. Through the night the captain saw dolphins darting through the water, they looked like torpedos with the green glow of phosphoresence.
April 25 The winds stayed light through the night.  The stars are so bright and the sky so clear.  Capt. Butch gave us all a refresher course on navigating.  Camelots new radar and GPS work so well, but it's still important to know how to plot a course on the chart and dead reckon. We took turns taking hourly fixes. Popeye had a visitor, a sandpiper stopped and took a rest on Camelot.  He sunbathed on the deck until he was rested and then took off.
18:00 We arrived at Charleston entrance channel.  We were welcomed by many large ships leaving the harbor.
19:50 We dropped the hook in front of Charleston's Municipal Marina.  Thirty-six hours at sea, covering 217 nautical miles.
April 26 Pulled into the City Docks the next afternoon to get fuel and dockage. Watch the current here it flows at velocities of nearly 3 knots at times with tides ranging near 9 feet. 

Leg 3: Charleston, SC to Norfolk
April 26 Good sleep for all, pleasant morning, deliberately slow and productive.  Omlettes for captain and crew.  Spent the day on the hook.  Pulled into the city docks late afternoon.  Dock hands here are great.  Tied on the floating fuel dock, very busy place.
April 27 Matt & Gail work and work and work, Captain and first mate do what needs doin and then walk the town of Charleston.  Returning over five hours later, to find Matt & Gail still working.  Gail has rented a car to return home to get more work done.  Matt remains to catch flight out in morning. Matt works all night, 18 hour day.  Captain and first mate getting ready for next leg of trip.
April 28 Matt's off to Denver, Camelots crew drift off, beginning the third leg. Crossing Charleston Harbor, easy but cold.  Coming up to swing bridge, just north of Charleston Harbor, Captain Butch noticed a sailboat that looked to be about  45', waiting impatiently and dangerously close to the swing bridge.  The sailboat was upstream with strong current and very strong wind trying to drive it into the bridge.  When the bridge started opening the sailboat turned and was immediately driven towards it, a nightmare was about to unfold.  The sailboat was on the wrong side of the swing bridge, it was swinging right at it! Fear and panic took over, the sailboat powered full-throttle and veered sharply trying to avoid being driven under the bridge by the strong current. Not able to break free immediately, he screamed along the bridge pilings heading toward shore, parralleling between high voltage wires and the bridge going full-throttle.  Screams came over the radio from other boaters telling the sailboat to back off, back off!  He turned sharply driving the boat aground so hard the back end flew out of the water till you could see his rudder, at the same time his mast impacted the wires supporting the high voltage power pole.  The sailboat finally came to rest entangled in the wires and laying on its side.  When coast guard and sea tow came on scene they removed all persons on board, no one was injured.  With winds near 25 knots steady, and witnessing such horror, we called it a short day. We picked an anchorage recommended by the waterway guide, which turned out to be a very poor anchorage.
April 29 We got an early start and headed up the waterway.  We went past Georgetown, entered the beautiful Waccamaw River. We were looking for a good place to hold up for the coming storm,  Jericho Creek off the Waccamaw River fit the bill perfectly.
April 30 Constant rain.
May 1 Early start, long day.  We went through more beautiful river, cypress trees and heavy growth, very few homes.  Then we entered North Carolina with a pontoon bridge opening only on the hour.  It takes the bridge 20 minutes to open and close.  Spent the night in Southport, tying up at dusk, perfect timing.
May 2 Lots of shallow water, somewhat repetitious.  The water was cleaner then what we had been in.  The bridges are pretty screwed-up.  Only opening on the hour, you can get yourself into trouble if you're not careful.  Anchored by Little River Inlet, in a U.S. military basin. The holding  was very poor.  We heard mortar and automatic gun fire that evening, they must have been doing military exercises.  The military owns all the land from this point on for about 5 miles up the waterway.  They use this land for military exercises and training. Occassionly they close off the waterway to all traffic for your own protection.
May 3 Got underway at 06:00, made it to Beaufort, NC by noon.  Saw one of Camelot's sisterships by the name of Three Belles.  She was the eleventh and last Mayflower built, Carl and Reeva Wesson and daughter Ivy are the owners, very exciting for us and Camelot to meet and compare vessels. Carl knew of a mooring Camelot could use.  What a treat in such a crowded anchorage off the town. She would be secure here for the second wave of bad weather coming.  We were told the maritime museum had loaner car for transient boaters to use, we were able to use it to do some provisioning.  It's nice to visit a place that actually caters to boaters.
May 4 The morning starts with Carl and Reeva coming over for coffee.  Carl annouced that it was business and wanted to pick the Captains brain for ideas for the restoration of Three Belles.  After coffee they invited us to come aboard Three Belles it was interesting to see the similarities and differences, mostly differences.  The afternoon left time for a few projects on the boat.  The evening approaches and so does the storm, lo and behold the boat that entangled itself in the wires by the bridge shows up with his traveling companion in another boat.  The first is warned about running aground by Three Belles, he was heading for the shoals at full speed, the later dropped his hook right off Camelots bow.  Mother Nature was ready to rock n roll with 30 knots of wind and high gusts to 55knts, occassional hail with reported tornadoes and water spouts.  Approximately 00:00 hrs. Captain Butch noticed the later boat that had anchored in front of Camelot was dragging.  It seemed impossible to wake him up.  He grugingly acknowledged and upped his anchor.  It was a close call for us and the boat moored next to us. Through the night there were seven distress calls made to the Coast Guard, three found Look-out Shoals, another had his cabin ripped off.  Things calmed down a bite by 03:00.
May 5 Beautiful morning, checking the weather forecast, we find we have another system moving in by the end of the week.  Got a message late afternoon,  Matt & Gail are meeting us in Norfolk on Saturday,  we need to make way immediately. 
May 6 Underway at day break.  Running until late.  Made our best day run so far, 124 miles.
May 7 Had a good day, made a run from North River to Willoughby Bay in Norfolk.  Made it through the gauntlet, as Captain Butch calls it.  It's all in the timing. The lock at Great Bridge and 6 scheduled bridges. We docked at Rebel Marine, home of the  re-nound Norfolk Rebel (a sailing tug) and Captain Lane A. Briggs founder of the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. Lane and crew announced we made it just in time for the barbecue, and welcomed us into there group. They made us feel at home. What wonderful, kind people.
May 9-13 Had a week of bad weather. Rebel Marine was the perfect place.  Matt and Gail arrived Saturday night.  The people from Nasa's Navigation Center at Langley made an appointment to meet with Matt and Gail aboard Camelot on Monday evening.  The hopes of a sunset sail were washed away with the weather.  Matt and Gail left Norfolk on the 13th.
 
Leg 4: Norfolk, Va to Port Unknown
May 14 Heading north on the Chesapeake Bay for Washington D.C. So much for the fair weather reports, encountered winds of 25 knots and better out of the north, with an opposing current causing waves to be very steep and reaching nearly 6 feet. We spent the night in Great Wicomico River, just south of the mouth of the Potomac River.
May 15 We start up the Potomac River, it's very wide.  It will be a 100 mile trip to Washington D.C. About 6 miles from D.C.there is a main highway bridge crossing the river which only opens between 5:00AM to Midnight with a 12 hour notice.  We decide to stop for the night about 30 miles from D.C. 
May 16 The morning started with a cup of coffee and a climb to lower the top mast.  After the top mast was secure we made way for D.C. Arriving at the dock around 17:00, where Matt met us.  With a helping hand from Matt we proceded with the task of raising the top mast for the next days coming sail.  Gail arrived from Hilton Head a few hours later.
May 17 A busy day ahead.  Matt & Gail have guests coming for a sail on Camelot and the blessing of the fleet is taking place in the harbor.  The tall ship Endeavor is participating in the event. A treat is instore for all. The Endeavor is a replica of Lt. James Cook's ship, H.M.Bark Endeavor.  The overall length of the Endeavor is 109ft.3".  It was very exciting seeing her underway sailing along side Camelot with cannons shooting-off. After the blessing we sailed to Alexandria, where the Endeavor was docked.
May 18 Winds were light so Matt and Gail worked on board Camelot, they met with a friend and also had a business meeting.  The captain and first mate did some varnishing and a little sight seeing.  So much to see.
May 19 Matt and Gail had a full day of meetings. Captain & first mate did more varnishing and sight seeing.
May 20-22 Matt and Gail left early in the morning for Hilton Head. Captain and first mate spent the rest of the week in D.C.
May 23 Left the dock at 6:00, have to make the opening for the highway bridge. Having the current with us we made good time down the Potomac River.  Anchored in the St. Marys River near the mouth of the Potomac.  Rolling hills and beautiful landscapes.
May 24 Light winds, Camelot has full sail up.  We arrive at Solomon's Island, on the Patuxuent River, early afternoon. It was very crowded, marinas everywhere you look.  We found a very sheltered place to anchor.
May 25 Left the crowd behind, had a great sail to Oxford, Maryland.  Trying to decide where to drop the hook when, Bubbles, a man sailing by, told us we could tie to a yacht club mooring.  From the water, the town looks small and quaint.
May 26 Oxford is two miles up the Tred Avon River from the Choptank River. It has the oldest private ferry in the country, it began service in 1683.  It runs people and cars to Bellevue and back. The walk through the village was peaceful and friendly.  We stopped at Cutts and Case Boatyard,  and had the pleasure of getting a tour of  there wooden boat building operation.
May 27 Drizzley morning. We decide to check-out St. Michaels from the back creek.  We went into Broad Creek which is west of Tred Avon River off the Choptank. Dropped the hook and dingyed up San Domingo Creek to St.Michaels. The local people are very friendly(we got offfers for rides by 2 people). The shops and homes are charming and quaint. The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is St. Michaels major attraction, it is devoted to the culture and history of the bay. 
May 28 We start off for Annapolis.  The captain see's a big vessel in the distance, who is it but the Endeavor.  It seems we are traveling the same route they are, the captain takes Camelot close by, we take photo's, the crew aboard Endeavor take photo's of  Camelot. We have a good sail to Annapolis, when we pull into the harbor the boaters of Eastport were protesting their association with Annapolis, they were shooting off cannons at the city of Annapolis from their boats,  they want their independence! Wouldn't you know we would come in the middle that.
May 29 We have a good sail to Rock Creek, off the Patapsco River.  We are anchored off Maryland Yacht Club, where we've come to meet some boat friends. We're about 10 miles southeast of Baltimore.